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FIND HOTELS ON EASTER ISLAND
GENERAL INFO
Easter Island, also known as Isla de Pescua in Spanish and Rapa Nui in Polynesian, is a special territory of the Chilean region of Valparaiso, which also includes the uninhabited island of Sal y Gomez, the uninhabited island group known as the Desventuradas Islands and the Juan Fernandez Island group.
Easter Island was named by Dutch mariner and explorer Jacob Roggeveen after he came across the island on Easter Sunday 1722.
Today Easter Island is best known for it's eight hundred and eighty seven monolithic statues known as Moai which have earned the island both national park and Unesco World Heritage Site status.
Geographically Easter Island, which is a triangular shaped, volcanic island measuring just 163.6 square kilometers, along with it's five surrounding satelitte islets and the above named island groups, make up the eastern most landmass of the Polynesian triangle.
Easter Island is one of the most isolated landmasses in the world, situated 391 kilometers from it's nearest uninhabited neighbour the island of Sal y Gomez, situated 2,075 kilometers west of it's nearest inhabited neighbour, Pitcairn Island and situated 3,512 kilometers east of the coast of it's motherland on mainland Chile.
The predominant religion on Easter Island is Catholicism.
The official language of Easter Island is Spanish.
The currency on Easter Island is the Chilean Peso but larger businesses will accept credit cards but small local business prefer cash sales.
Easter Island is located on time zone UTC - 6.
LOCAL TRAVEL
Easter Island is served by Mataveri International Airport which accepts flights from Santiago in Chile every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and flights from Papeete in Tahiti every Tuesday. The island's main settlement and capital, Hanga Roa, is also served by a deep water port where cruise ships and private yachts can berth and regular sailings to Valparaiso in Chile can be taken.
There is no public transport on Easter Island but there are plenty of taxis and several places where cars, scooters and bicycles can be hired. Most of the roads on Easter Island are unpaved, but there are some paved areas in and around Hanga Roa.
Traffic drives on the right hand side of the road and an international driving permit is advised.
There is no car insurance on Easter Island so any damage done to hire vehicles must be paid for on site.
HANGA ROA
Hanga Roa is the main settlement and de facto capital of Easter Island. The town is served by an international airport, a deep water port and a harbour. The town provides three international hotels, several guest houses, restaurants and shops, an open air market, the Padre Sebastian Engbert Anthropological museum, a Catholic church, a post office, a tourist information office and a football stadium.
LOCAL ATTRACTIONS
EASTER ISLAND / ISLA DE PESCUA / RAPA NUI
Easter Island is world renowned for it's 71.3 square kilometer large national park and World Heritage Site which contains over eight hundred monolithic statues, many of which are well over three meters high, which are known as Moai. The national park is divided into seven areas all of which contain several Maoi and Ahu sites.
Also situated within the national park are the ancient stone houses of Orongo. Just like the monoliths these too have been constructed from volcanic ash for the purpose of immortalising the memory of the islands dead. Also found in this area are several cinder cones and sites of ancient rare petroglyphs.
The island is also the site of three extinct volcanoes, Terevaka, Rano Kau and Poike all of which now incorporate freshwater crater lakes.
During the island's past these volcanoes have sculpted the surrounding terrain into several areas of interest which include several sites containg volcanic caves, lava tubes and lava quarries.
The island is also surrounded by a unique underwater landscape of volcanic caves, marine walls and lava tubes which has led to avid interest amongst visiting divers.
Due to the island's rocky coastline the island is not known for it's beaches although it does have one soft, coraline beach located at Anakeva.
The island tourism companies provide several walking tours of the many Maoi and Ahu sites situated around the island.
ISLA SAL Y GOMEZ
The uninhabited island of Sal y Gomez is a nature reserve for sea birds and fur seals and it's surrounding waters are home to a 150,000 square kilometer marine national park. The island, which is almost completely barren of plant life and nigh on impossible to access by boat due to it's rocky coastline, is geographically situated at the eastern most point of the Polynesian triangle.
ROBINSON CRUSOE ISLAND / MAS A TIERRA
Robinson Crusoe Island is one of the four islands which make up the Juan Fernandez Island group. The island gets it's name from Scottish mariner Alexander Selkirk who was marooned on the island for four years and four months from 1704 until 1708. It was Selkirk's experience on the island which inspired author Daniel Defoe to pen his epic story of Robinson Crusoe in 1719.
The 93 square kilometer island has a population of 850 people who live on the island's only settlement of San Juan Batiste. The island has a small airstrip which receives one flight a week from Santiago in Chile. The flying time from Santiago is three hours.
ALEXANDER SELKIRK ISLAND / MAS AFUERA
Also situated in the Juan Fernandez Island group is the 33 square kilometer uninhabited island of Alexander Selkirk, named after the Scottish mariner who was marooned on the neighboring island of Robinson Crusoe. The island, which is a former penal colony which was closed down in 1930, is charecterised by dense forests and very steep, rugged coastal cliffs.
The island is home to a large colony of fur seals and the very rare and critically endangered indigenous bird known as a Masafuera Rayadito, one of only two species of the Rayadito bird to be found in the world.
There are around twenty buildings on the island all of which were once part of the former prison. The island is very inaccessible, although there is a small landing strip located at Quebrada Sanchez near the site of the former penal colony, where it is believed some forty to fifty people may have recently set up home there.
CUMBERLAND BAY, ROBINSON CRUSOE ISLAND
WEATHER / NATURAL PHENOMENA
Easter Island experiences temperatures of between 18c and 28c. Although the island receives rain all through the year, it does experience a wetter season from April to August. Due to the South Pacific High, a sub tropical anti-cyclone, the islands do not experience Pacific cyclones.
The islands no longer experience volcanic eruptions either although they do lie in a seismically active area which experiences earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis.
CRIME
Crime on Easter Island has risen in recent years owing to a large migrant population of criminal elements from mainland Chile. This has led to the resident population of the island being doubled, mostly by people only there in order to resist police pursuit on mainland Chile. This has also caused an increase in robbery and drug related crime, particularly against foreign tourists. This has in turn caused mass protests from the local indigenous population against the Chilean government and it's immigration policies, with the island's local inhabitants strongly urging independence from Chile.
Possession of drugs is illegal on Easter Island, as is drink driving, both of which are dealt with harshly.
Homosexuality is legal on Easter Island with same sex couples free to openly conduct their relationships.
Although not exactly a criminal offence the islanders do take offence at anyone defiling their culture or historical sites, therefore deep respect for the monoliths and the local people's culture should be shown at all times.
The emeregency number for the police on Easter Island is 133.
HEALTH
There is no need for a vaccination program before visiting Easter island although it could prove beneficial to update a hepatitis A and typhoid program if travelling to the island during the wet season.
The biggest medical threat to visitors on Easter Island is packs of street dogs which may bite if approached.
Easter island has a new state of the art hospital which caters to all types of surgical and medical problems. The hospital also has an x-ray and a dental department.
Easter Island Hospital
Simon Paoa,
Isla de Pescua
Tel - (32) 100 215.
FOREIGN CONSULATES
Easter Island has just one honorary British consulate situated in Hanga Roa. It's telephone number is 210 0024.
All other foreign nationals requiring consular help should contact their relavent embassy or consulate located in Santiago in Chile.
VISA INFO
Residents of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the EU do not need visas to enter Easter Island for stays of less than ninety days, although passports must be valid for six months from the date of arrival and provide two blank pages for visa stamps should it be necessary.
Residents of Australia, the US and Canada are required to pay a reciprocity fee of 100 US Dollars, 56 Australian Dollars or 132 Canadian Dollars at the point of their arrival.
Other foreign nationals need to find out what fee is levied at their country's nationals by contacting the Chilean Embassy or consulate in their country of residence.
Those requiring stays of more than ninety days must also contact their Chilean Embassy or consulate in their country of residence.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
January 1 - New Yer's Day.
Good Friday
May 1 - Labour day.
May 21 - Battle of Iquique Day.
May / June - Corpus Christi
June 29 - St Peter & St Paul Day.
August 15 - Ascension Day.
September 18 - Independence Day.
September 19 - Army Day.
October 12 - Columbus Day.
November 1 - All Saints Day.
December 8 - Conception Day.
December 25 - Christmas Day.
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Listed below is a selection of websites with information about Easter Island
Easter Island Tourism - www.easterislandtourism.com
Chile Tourism - www.visitchile.com/easter-island-robinson-crusoe-tours
The NETAXS website - www.netaxs.com/rapanui
The EISP website - www.eisp.org
The Island Heritage website - Islandheritage.org
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